Episode Summary

As Donna gets ready to walk down the aisle, things changed drastically. Donna learns some surprising news regarding a mentor she once worked with. Now Team One, with Donna's help, must try to keep the people close to her from getting killed and make sure Donna's emotions don't get in the way.

A New Life

Look, I love Flashpoint, but lately the show has gotten a bit stagnant. They introduced a crazy premise here tonight, but it then was followed by too many twists, and a storyline that they tried to pass off as emotional, but rather came off as uneventful and unintriguing. I do not want to see a policeman or woman question their morals, I want to see the good hostage crises this program featured during its glory days.moreless

This episode was nearly perfect. The script by Adam Barken was tight and kept me on edge the whole way through. Former SRU Team One member Donna has a wedding day that turns into a nightmare as her past as an undercover officer comes back to haunt her.moreless

"A New Life" is one of my favourite episodes of the season, if not of the series. While Team One is not the focus this time around, we get to see how they deal with one of the SRU family nearly coming off the rails completely.

The episode was a big return for Donna Sabine, last seen in the season 4 opener, "Personal Effects". It's her wedding day, and she's asked Ed Lane to escort her to the ceremony and walk her down to aisle.She admits to him in the ride over that she's put in her 20 years of service, and will look to take early retirement after her honeymoon. Quitting the force after marrying seems to be her solution to making sure the marriage lasts.Meanwhile, Team One (sans Ed, of course) has responded to a shots fired call. They find a DOA victim slumped over in her car.Raf manages to track the alleged shooter, and a footchase ensues.Over at Donna's wedding, as soon as she exchanges vows with husband, Hank, there is a disturbance.One guy is being accosted by two others. While everyone is distracted by this, a fourth man approaches from the other side. Ed realises something is fishy and focuses on guy #4. It's a good thing, too, because #4 pulls a revolver and fires off two shots at the newlywed couple.Ed gives chase.Raf's suspect runs into traffic and gets struck and killed by a car.Neither Donna nor Hank are injured in the shooting, but Hank's best man, Pete, has taken one in the thigh.When Team One responds to the shooting at the wedding, camera footage shows that the shooter was bumped by a fleeing guest.Ed manages to subdue the shooter thanks to a calculated risk (he counted the number of shots the guy was taking, and tackled him after tallying six shots from the revolver).Back at the wedding venue, they surmise that Donna was the likely target of the shooting, because roadkill shooter and wedding shooter are actually brothers, and roadkill shooter offed the ex-wife of a cop.Those brothers were in the employ of the infamous Logan family. One of Donna's big undercover cases once involved taking down the head of the Logan family, Callum, and everyone is now thinking a vendetta is at play.The problem is that the names of all the cops involved in the undercover operation were kept confidential, so somehow, the secret is out. Callum Logan has also recently died in prison, and his widow, Ida, claims to have no knowledge of what is going on with the shootings.Team One still race to track down all the undercover officers involved to get them to safety before the other Logan hitmen can get to them.Donna is adamant about getting to her ex-partner, Bill, who headed the undercover unit responsible for the Logan operation. He's apparently taken a leave of absence and is off the radar, but she knows where to find him.Unfortunately, the truth is that Bill has not taken a leave of absence; he's been let go by the force. Even worse, he's got loose lips when he's out drinking, and has spilled his guts about the cops involved in the Logan case to a man claiming to be a retired police officer. The man is actually an ex-con, working for Ida Logan.Almost too late, Team One realises that the vendetta orchestrated by Ida is not about killing the cops, but killing the spouses of the cops.Bill has been ordered by Ida to get Hank alone and kill him. If he refuses, Donna will be killed. Bill picks up Hank from the hospital where he's been staying with Pete. They go for a drive to an abandoned warehouse under the pretext of keeping Hank 'safe'.Jules and Spike manage to trace Hank's cell phone, and they race over. EMS is called in to follow as a precaution.Bill tearfully tells Hank that he's sorry before shooting him twice in the back. He's about to take a third shot when Team One pulls in, and he flees. Sam, Jules, Raf, Greg and Spike give chase.Donna rushes to a fallen Hank and is unable to find a pulse. EMS arrive and Ed has to pry Donna away from her husband so they can work on him. Believing Hank to be beyond saving, an unhinged and highly emotional Donna takes off after Bill.Cornered down below the warehouse, Greg orders Bill to stop running and to give up. Donna enters and gets in the line of fire. She draws her weapon and wants to know what Bill has done.Bill tearfully admits that he felt alone and abandoned by everyone on the force, including Donna, after he was let go from his job. He tells her how he finally felt like he mattered when the ex-con talked to him.Donna is enraged that he gave up their identities just like that. Bill tells her that he shot Hank to save her; that Ida ordered the hit and that if he didn't do it, Ida would have Donna killed.Donna can't abide hearing this; can't believe this is what Bill has turned into. Ed and Greg both try to talk her down, as she's dangerously close to shooting Bill.Ed eventually manages to get through to her, but she nevertheless tells Bill that she hates him.By the end of the episode, the news about Hank is good, and he's going to pull through. Ida Logan and the ex-con are under arrest.Sam wants to know if Donna is really leaving Team Three after the honeymoon, but Greg and Ed aren't so sure.As they depart for the trucks, Jules asks Sam if he ever has thoughts, hypothetically, of a honeymoon. He admits he does, and it involves extreme hiking. Jules likes the sound of that, and Sam asks "Oh, you mean with you?"--------------Okay, so while Team One took a backseat with this one, it was still good to know that past team members like Donna still exist and have pasts that can be explored on a show like Flashpoint.This episode synopsis/review cannot pass without mentioning what an incredible job Jessica Steen did with this material. Donna was really put through hell, and I bought Steen's performance the whole way. From her sad admission to Ed about her choice to retire to her rage and grief over what Bill did to Hank - Steen hit every scene perfectly.Sam and Jules might have just spoken about getting married in coded language, and a spot on Team Three might possibly open up for one of them if Donna does go through with her retirement.Ep. gets a 9.5 out of 10. (The missing 0.5 is due to some minor plot holes that really should have been plugged, but doesn't take away from the overall enjoyment of the episode.)moreless

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)

QUOTES (3)

(on the way to her wedding)Donna: How many cops get married?Ed: I don't know. Most of 'em, all of 'em. Can't do it alone.Donna: OK, how many stay married? Why is that? Is it the hours, the people they're choosing to marry? Maybe the job just changes you. I know I was a totally different person before I became a cop.Ed: Where you going with this?Donna: After my honeymoon, I, I'm going to take my package, early retirement.

Jules: So, hypothetically, you ever think﻿ of a honeymoon?Sam: Love a honeymoon, hypothetically.Jules: All right, just promise me it's not daiquiris on the beach.Sam: Extreme hiking, remote trails, no outhouses.Jules: Nice! I like it.Sam: Oh, you mean with you?

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